Canada passes controversial bill providing FREE contraception and abortion pills to all

 A Canadian bill that would allow "free" access to contraceptives, including abortifacients, has passed the Senate without any changes.

In February, Canadian Minister of Health Mark Holland introduced Bill C-64, known as "An Act Respecting Pharmacare."

In February, Health Minister Mark Holland passed the Bill C-64, also known as an "Act respecting Pharmacare. The legislation, which passed its second reading in the Senate without any amendments on Oct. 3, seeks to provide universal, single-payer coverage to publicly-funded contraceptives and abortion pills to all Canadians. These contraception drugs and devices, includes oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices (IUDs), hormonal implants, injections and emergency contraception

"Cost can discourage people both from accessing contraception, and from choosing more effective methods of contraception with a higher upfront cost. For example, oral contraceptives have a typical use failure rate of nine percent compared to 0.20 percent for IUDs. Not having affordable access to effective contraception can increase the risk of unintended pregnancies, which can impact life plans such as going to school and advancing in one's career," Holland wrote about Bill C-64. The bill eventually received royal assent and became law on Thursday, Oct. 10.

"Everyone in Canada deserves access to the care they need, including to prescription medications," Holland said, in response to the decision. "Our plan for universal access to contraception means reproductive freedom and choice and access to diabetes medication is a transformational step towards improving health outcomes and health equity in Canada. I thank all partners for their contributions to making this happen."  

Bill C-64 faces backlash from various sectors

Bill C-64 was heavily criticized by various sectors of Canadian society.

In May, Campaign Life Coalition Director of Communications Pete Baklinski accused the government of promoting a "big lie" that women cannot control their fertility without contraceptives.

"There's a BIG LIE behind the Trudeau Liberal's free contraception pharmacare plan. PM Trudeau believes that women won't have 'control' over their bodies until they're popping man-made pills every day to suppress their God-given fertility," Baklinski wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "But women don't need a daily dose of synthetic, cancer-causing hormones to have control over their lives. God has already built into the woman's body an amazing natural cycle of fertility."

Canadian Chamber of Commerce echoed this statement when it passed the Senate and warned that the bill could impact private insurance coverage.

"The legislation itself, which is only two pages long, raises more questions than answers," said Kathy Megyery, who serves as the senior vice president and general manager of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Quebec. "And this is only the first step of national pharmacare, which will eventually be expanded to cover all categories of drugs. With the valued workplace insurance of 27 million Canadians at risk, not to mention the risk of federal creep into provincial areas, we cannot accept this level of ambiguity from policymakers."